Arts

of Montreal UR FUN (Polyvinyl) 4.5/5  UR FUN is the 16th studio album from Athens, Georgia’s of Montreal, the indie/pop band led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Barnes. The album makes me want to laze in bed with a modern lover and sit in a discotheque in slow motion. First, Barnes pokes holes in your […]

What makes a cool car cool? Graham Wright, vocalist/guitarist of Toronto-based rock band Girlfriend Material, is getting to the bottom of that question while challenging normative rock and roll tropes with his band’s unconventional social media presence. “I’m always fascinated by the way that rock and roll came of age when cars were the status […]

When Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo comes to town in February, the unconventional will take the stage. Sure, the program will include the second act of Swan Lake, Go for Barocco, and Paquita, but the all-male drag ballet troupe will present them as parody. The troupe—affectionately known as The Trocks—was founded in 1974 with […]

A mixed-media art exhibit exploring the supernatural elements and beings of Indigenous stories through a modern superhero comic lens is coming to Open Space. When Raven Became Spider features work by six Indigenous artists: Joi Arcand, Shawn Beyale, Sonny Assu, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Jeffrey Veregge, and Julianne Beaudin-Herney. Curator Leena Minifie first designed the show for […]

Bluebloods Make It Rain (Independent) 1.5/5  It’s nearly impossible to pin down what Winnipeg’s Bluebloods are attempting to accomplish on their debut EP. During Make It Rain’s 20-minute runtime, the band delivers some daring genre blending but constantly trips over its own ambition. Led by guitarist Conrad Sweatman, Bluebloods primarily focus on the hardships of […]

Twelve years ago a few comedians booked a handful of shows as an excuse to go snowboarding. With 70 shows scheduled for this year, the Snowed in Comedy Tour is now the largest comedy tour in Canada. Award-winning comedy veteran Pete Zedlacher, who this year will be hitting the road for his fifth Snowed in […]

One of the biggest challenges facing Victoria-based director Heather Jarvie these days is adapting an outdated show: for example, taking a musical and stripping it of the misogyny, sexism, and gender stereotypes of the 1970s. When a modern version of the show in question, Company, hit London’s West End in 2018, she jumped at the […]

Thursday, January 9 Make an exhibition of yourself I never knew this was a thing, but apparently even the Royal BC Museum has a happy hour. This is a mindfulness-themed happy hour for adults (how adult do you have to be?) with museum fare, drinks, and tapas. You can tell people you got drunk with […]